Cornyn, Hutchison seek to force Obama to make pipeline decision before election

Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison want to force the White House to act. (AP photos)

Senate Republicans today unveiled a plan to force the Obama administration to approve the controversial Keystone XL pipeline within 60 days — or make President Barack Obama publicly explain why he is blocking the project.

The measure, which is being spearheaded by Sen. Dick Lugar, R-Ind., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., could put Obama in a politically tough position on the eve of next year’s election, by forcing him to decide between environmentalists who oppose the pipeline and some labor unions that say it would create much-needed jobs.

Nearly 40 Senate Republicans signed on as co-sponsors of the legislation introduced today, including Texans Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn.

“Congress is taking the reins and saying to the president: ‘Do this now, you don’t have to wait for Congress, you can get this pipeline going,'” Hutchison said.

Cornyn argued that the legislation would rightly force Obama to publicly proclaim whether Keystone XL’s potential economic and national security benefits justify the project. “This bill requires the president to decide whether or not that’s good enough for him, rather than allowing him to stall until after the election,” Cornyn said.

GOP bill backers pitched their proposal as a plan to rev up the nation’s ailing economy while weaning the U.S. off Middle East oil. TransCanada Corp., has estimated that as many as 20,000 jobs could be tied to the construction and operation of the pipeline, although other forecasts put the numbers much lower — around 3,000.

Because the move effectively postponed a final verdict until after the 2012 election, McConnell accused the Obama administration of making a politically motivated decision that jeopardized the economic boost that would be tied to construction and operation of the 1,700-mile pipeline.

“With all this talk about jobs, we know there’s one major shovel ready project ready to go — and that’s Keystone,” McConnell said at a news conference touting the legislation. “If the administration would get out of the way, this project would create jobs immediately.”

The legislation introduced today would require the State Department to issue a Keystone XL within 60 days, unless the president publicly determines it is not in the national interest. The measure also aims to protect the planned rerouting of the project through Nebraska’s Sand Hills, by requiring the president to approve the state’s proposed alternative path, even once a permit has been issued.

Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., stressed that the bill would preserve the ability of Nebraskans to rejigger the route — without holding up permitting and construction of the pipeline in other parts of the country.

“There will be this Nebraska process, but nothing prevents this work from beginning today,” Johanns said.

Environmentalists who oppose the Keystone XL pipeline blasted the measure.

The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would link oil sands development in Alberta (and projects in the Bakken formation in Montana) with a key pipeline terminal at Cushing, Okla. From there, it would run to Gulf Coast refineries.

An existing pipeline – known as Keystone – already exists in the U.S. and Canada, but because the proposed XL extension would cross the U.S.-Canada border, the Obama administration has an added role in permitting the project.

Environmentalists worry the pipeline would expand the marketplace and demand for oil sands crude that produces more greenhouse gas emissions over its entire life cycles – from production to combustion – than alternatives.

The measure faces long odds in the Democratically controlled Senate, where a similar effort already stalled earlier this year, after the House passed legislation that would have imposed a Nov. 1 deadline for a permitting decision.

Even if the new Senate bill also bogs down on Capitol Hill, supporters insist it is vital to highlight the importance of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

Marty Durbin, the executive vice president of government affairs for the American Petroleum Institute, said the GOP push today is a reminder for the administration of the issues that are at stake.

“The legislative process is a critical piece of making clear again to the president and the administration how important this project is,” Durbin said in an interview. “There does need to be a continued drumbeat here to talk about the real opportunities and the benefits that this project is going to bring across the board.”

Durbin also argued that some Senate Democrats could eventually sign on to the legislation. “There’s great opportunity to build even more support in the Senate . . . on the Democratic side of the aisle,” Durbin said. “Just having our own conversations with Democratic offices, there’s frustration there as well.”

GOP lawmakers in the House, including Rep. Lee Terry of Nebraska, now are considering writing another bill — like the Senate measure unveiled today — that would force a swift pipeline decision, but that effort is moving on a slower track. A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee is holding a hearing on the pipeline proposal Friday.